Video news: Green racing cars !?!
The CNN Video above introduces a racing car that is (supposed to be) green… a question could be ‘how can something that is fundamentally needless (such as a racing car) whilst using resources be green?’
I think this is not the point here, the video shows the great efforts that Warwick University puts into researching greener materials and their application (to make it clear, I think the team at Warwick is doing a great and extremely valuable job!). Applying these to such a complex system as a F3 racing car imposes additional difficulties that the research team has to deal with, by this means rigorously testing their research findings. In addition, their case is a great way in presenting the research to the general public but also in disseminating the results to OEMs world-wide (I think the publicity gained through e.g. CNN is a great reward for the Warwick-team).
The justification can be expanded by the educational aspects of such a project. It is for that reason that here at UNNC we are encouraging our Engineering students to develop a concept for the Shell Eco-Marathon 2010:
“The Eco-marathon is a fuel efficiency challenge programme encouraging technology and innovation among today’s youth. It serves as an excellent platform for students to showcase their creativity and innovativeness in meeting the energy challenge, and gain practical experience for the future” (http://www.shell.com/home/content/eco-marathon-en/asia/welcome_sem_asia.html).
PS: Although there is a link on the CNN webpage providing html code to embed the video, it did not work. It is for that reason that I linked their page to the picture above. Any advice would be appreciated.
